The secret to keeping your target audiences happy

There's a heatwave in the UK right now - so before we all head off in search of the closest beach (or paddling pool), we wanted to launch the latest edition of our newsletter.

Last time we explored the different ways Hullabalook customers promote our technology across their sites and via social media. We had a great response, and thought it would be worthwhile taking a step back to discuss some of the fundamentals.

So, in our next series of posts we'll discuss the different ways our customers target shoppers during each stage of their purchase journeys, and share some best practices along the way.

Before we can do that, we need to define our target audiences.

Retailers need to engage with lots of different audiences. Today, we're going to discuss two personas that most retailers deal with on a daily basis. These are style-based shoppers and functional shoppers.

Meet Jamal - a style-based shopper who loves to browse new trends. When they land on your site, they're looking for inspiration. They've decided on a sofa they love and would like to find a coffee table and some accessories to compliment their living room aesthetic.

Here's what a traditional shopping journey looks like:

Jamal lands on your site. They're looking for a coffee table and some accessories to go with a sofa they love. Typically, there are five steps Jamal will need to take before purchasing:

• Click on the 'tables' and 'accessories' tabs to open two new PLPs.
• Scroll through each PLP to view your available products.
• Click on each individual PDP to find out vital information such as size and colour.
• Compare each product and mentally visualise how they may fit together.
• Make a purchase decision and check out.

While Jamal is pondering their decision, we meet Salma.

Salma - our functional shopper - is a busy mother of three. She recently moved home and is looking for a sofa to fit a specific spot in her new flat. With children and a dog in the house, she also needs it to be a certain colour (preferably dark charcoal grey) and fabric to help mask any inevitable stains. Salma isn't interested in scrolling through endless pages - she wants a quick and easy experience.

Salma lands on your website. Here's what her journey looks like:

• She clicks on the 'sofas' category and is shown hundreds of products.
• She has a few filters to choose from and chooses '3 seater' and 'grey'.
• The majority of your sofas are grey, so when she clicks on the filters, she's still shown 100+ results.
• She has to scroll through a lot of unsuitable products to find the right one.
• She doesn't have time - so gives up after a few minutes.

Hullabalook think about these shopping interactions differently. Our technology aims to make these everyday experiences easier, more pleasurable and better converting.

Let's re-imagine these two shopping journeys, as though they landed on a Ecommerce page powered by Hullabalook.

Jamal:

• Jamal finds the sofa they love on Dunelm's website.
• They click on the Room Planner (powered by Hullabalook) and the sofa has been automatically added to a blank canvas.
• Jamal can see Dunelm's entire product catalogue in one place; Hullabalook has transformed Dunelm's products into 2D "stickers" which Jamal can moved around the canvas.
• Instead of clicking through to countless PLP's, Jamal can begin experimenting with coffee tables and accessories, instantly visualising colours and styles.
• There's no need to click on PDP's to find vital information - the Room Planner automatically scales every product, so Jamal will know how big the coffee table is compared to the sofa.
• In a few clicks, Jamal feels confident enough to make a cross-category purchase.

Salma:

• Salma lands on?MADE.com's website and is directed to the Sofasizer (powered by Hullabalook).
• Salma can drag the Sizer to the exact size she needs. She can also input the exact dimensions.
• She finds grey on the colour band. Hullabalook's colour technology analyses the MADE catalogue to find the exact HEX code associated with each colour she clicks on - so she can be very specific with the shade she's looking for.
• Hullabalook's unique algorithms react instantly to her choices, automatically re-ranking the PLP to feature the most relevant products first.
• A shopping experience which would typically end in frustration, is completed within a few clicks.

Everything we build at Hullabalook has some common denominators; our technology is easy to use, it's very smart, it enhances everyday experiences and it makes retailers money.

So, which shopper are you?!

Next time we’ll look at typical shopping journeys - where your shoppers are coming from and how can you embed Hullabalook within different points of the purchase journey.?

As always, we'd love to hear your feedback. If there are any specific topics you'd like us to explore please let us know in the comments.

Alternatively, you can book a demo of our technology by clicking here.